The Path of My Cup of Water

Carlos Barrera

Anthropology 176B

3/12/17

The Path of my Cup of Water

        Many take for granted the luxuries of life, and when I say luxuries, most think of materialistic things that can range from the best cars to the highest tech phones. Many forget and take for granted the fact that having clean drinking water is one of the most valuable luxuries in life. Third World Nations would do anything in their power to have the water system that we take for granted here in the city of Oxnard. I am here to shine a light on how water eventually gets to the cups of Oxnard residents in a state that makes it safe to drink.

        This project to me started like many others, just an essay that I had to type for class, and it has turned into one that will probably change my life forever. I have gained so much interest in how our water system works. When I say our, I mean the California State Water Project, planned and managed by the California Department of Water Resources^[1]. To give a quick overview, the State Water Project’s original purpose was to provide water for the Southern Region of California, whose local water sources and share of the Colorado River were not enough to sustain the region’s growing industry and population^[2]. Through the State Water Project, which is most commonly known as the SWP, there would be a series of canals and pumps that would carry water South from the Northern region of California through the Central Valley. Eventually water would be distributed to the Eastern and Western parts of the state via Canals and Basins.

The plan for the SWP began in 1960, and consisted of 10 Storage Dams, 4 reregulation dams, 4 hydroelectric dams, 2 flood control dams, and 1 conservation dam. It would also have 5 conventional power plants and 3 pumped-storage power plants. For water to be distributed all around California, a total of 701.5 miles of Canals were planned for construction^[3]. These precisely planned man-made structures would allow water from the Sierra Nevada Mountains to be transported to Southern California regions. The most astonishing of all parts of the SWP plan was and still is the fact that through its path from North to South, water needs to be pumped to an elevation of over 2000 feet, from the California Aqueducts, up and over the Tehachapi Mountains^[4]. This is still known as one of the biggest water elevation pumps in the world. Pumping water to such heights takes a lot of energy, luckily, the SWP is also the biggest power producing establishment in California.

I did a little more research and decided that I wanted a deeper understanding of water manipulation once it was up and over the Tehachapi Mountains, and closer to home. I went to interview the Senior Water Management Plant Operator at United Water Conservation District, Randy Castaneda, and asked to get a little more information as to what his knowledge was of where our communities water came from. He was helpful and eager to help expand his knowledge to a younger generation. He said that the City of Oxnard has two sources of water production. Half of the water supply comes from the United Water Conservation District, and the other half comes from Callegas Water District. He first mentioned that the reason for the formation of Districts was to supply cities that do not have water sources, by importing water from regions that do.

He specialized in the United Water Conservation District side, and I unfortunately did not get an interview with Callegas Water District. On his part, Mr. Castaneda said that UWCD gets its water from Lake Piru. Lake Piru is an artificial lake that is in Los Padres National Forest in Ventura County.  Piru Lake was created by the construction of the Santa Felicia Dam on Piru Creek in 1955^[5]. Further up, Piru Lake gets its water from Pyramid Lake, which is a reservoir formed by Pyramid Dam on Piru Creek in the Easter part of the San Emigdio Mountains.^[6] It is a part of the West Branch California Aqueduct system, pumped from the San Joaquin Valley through the Tehachapi Mountains as mentioned previously. When asked of current conditions of water supply, Mr. Castaneda said that “Water conditions are getting dryer, and droughts are getting longer, the District has gotten to the point of using its full resource for human consumption only, no agricultural water supply has come from [UWCD] in the past drought years”^[7]. Having this conversation with Mr. Castaneda made me realize that I have an interest in the field of Water Management, and fortunately, I was able to talk to him about a position at his facility after graduation.